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Education as Liberation?

Author

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  • Friedman, Willa
  • Kremer, Michael
  • Miguel, Edward
  • Thornton, Rebecca

Abstract

This paper studies the political and social impacts of increased education by utilizing a randomized girls' merit scholarship programme in Kenya that raised test scores and secondary schooling. Consistent with the view that education empowers the disadvantaged to challenge authority, we find that the programme reduced the acceptance of domestic violence and political authority. Young women in programme schools also increased their objective political knowledge. We find that this rejection of the status quo did not translate into greater perceived political efficacy, community participation or voting intentions. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that the perceived legitimacy of political violence increased.

Suggested Citation

  • Friedman, Willa & Kremer, Michael & Miguel, Edward & Thornton, Rebecca, 2016. "Education as Liberation?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt32t4d2tq, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:econwp:qt32t4d2tq
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. André, Pierre & Dupraz, Yannick, 2023. "Education and polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Hugh Sharma Waddington & Paul Fenton Villar & Jeffrey C. Valentine, 2023. "Can Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions Provide Unbiased Effect Estimates? A Systematic Review of Internal Replication Studies," Evaluation Review, , vol. 47(3), pages 563-593, June.
    4. Yijun Yu & Hang Thu Nguyen-Phung & Hai Le, 2025. "Women’s Empowerment in Zimbabwe: Examining the Role of Educational Reform," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 489-531, March.
    5. Felipe Barrera‐Osorio & Andreas de Barros & Deon Filmer, 2024. "Long‐term impacts of primary school scholarships: Evidence from Cambodia," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 10-38, January.
    6. Hong, Justin Jihao & Lyu, Yuhan, 2025. "Not always a Panacea: History education and identity-building in Taiwan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Djemaï, Elodie & Kevane, Michael, 2023. "Effects of education on political engagement in rural Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Daniel Aaronson & Mark Borgschulte & Sunny Liu & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," Working Paper Series WP 2024-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    9. Chen, Wei-Lin & Lin, Ming-Jen & Yang, Tzu-Ting, 2023. "Curriculum and national identity: Evidence from the 1997 curriculum reform in Taiwan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    10. La Mattina, Giulia & Shemyakina, Olga N., 2024. "Growing up amid armed conflict: Women's attitudes toward domestic violence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 645-662.
    11. Nguyen, My, 2025. "Education and reproductive empowerment: How schooling shapes women’s contraceptive use and fertility intention in LMICs," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

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